Companies

I. Text a

Read the text and answer the following questions.

The place of work

There are many occasions on which you can be expected to talk about your firm. This may include actually showing someone physically around the place of work or premises. But it may more generally involve referring to the way in which the company is organized and run.

Firms are a very important part of the economy. They are responsible for producing goods and services. Businesses use materials and change them in some way to produce goods or a service. Businesses come in every shape and size. While the vast majority of the world's businesses are small, large firms often dominate the economy in some countries. Indeed, the income of the world's largest fifty industrial companies added together represents more than half the total output of the United States.

Large businesses differ very much from small ones in a wide variety of ways. In many countries there are both private firms and nationalized firms belonging to the government. A small private firm may have just one owner but a very large firm has thousands of shareholders.

In very large firms the owners have very little to do with the day-to-day running of the firm. This is left to the management. Very large companies may be organized into several large departments, or sometimes even divisions. The organizational structure of some companies is very hierarchical with the board of directors at the top and the various departmental heads reporting to them. Often the only time shareholders can influence the board is at yearly shareholders' meetings

Some firms may only produce one product or service. Others may produce many different products: in fact they may seem to be like a collection of 'businesses' inside one company. The bigger a business becomes the further it may expand geographically. Many large firms have manufacturing plants and trading locations in several different countries spread around the world. The physical surroundings of most modern places of work, especially offices, are becoming more and more similar. Although there may be differences from country to country, offices do not vary very widely. Office furniture tends to be similar - desks, chairs, filing cabinets, office equipment such as typewriters and, increasingly perhaps, personal computers or computer terminals on many desks.

Recently, firms have become more aware of how greatly the atmosphere of the workplace can influence the effectiveness of their employees. Modern business offices may be more spacious and better lit and heated than in the past. But of course this is a feature that will vary from firm to firm and may be dependent on the size of the company and its corporate 'philosophy'. Some large businesses may have their employees working in large open-planned offices with air-conditioning and no walls between the departments. Others may emphasize the usefulness of letting their staff work in individual offices.

Answer the following questions.

1. Why are there many occasions on which you are to talk about your firm?

2. What role do firms play in the economy? Why?

3. What is the difference between large businesses and small businesses?

4. Why are modern business offices more spacious and better lit and heated than in the past?